Jaguars Draw Smallest Home Crowd Of Khan Era; Could Player Protests Be To Blame?

October 16, 2017

A crowd of 56,232 was at EverBank Field yesterday for Rams-Jaguars, marking the "smallest announced crowd" since Jaguars Owner Shahid Khan bought the team in '11, according to Phillip Heilman of the FLORIDA TIMES-UNION. It was "either a show of disinterest in the Jaguars despite their 3-2 start or a show of anger by the fan base for the 15 players who took a knee for the National Anthem three weeks ago in London and Khan’s decision to stand arm-in-arm with the captains at that same game" (JACKSONVILLE.com, 10/15). Heilman in a front-page piece notes the last time the Jaguars had a "smaller crowd for a home game was Dec. 6, 2009, when 42,079 were in attendance" for a game against the Texans. Jaguars DT Malik Jackson said, "If you don’t want to come support us because of the views we have off the field, that’s your problem and I think you have to look at yourself." Heilman notes every Jaguars player yesterday "stood for the national anthem." Khan, who donated $1M to President Trump’s campaign, has "been a vocal opponent of the president’s comments." Two hours before the game, a plane was seen "pulling a banner that read: 'BE AMERICAN. BOYCOTT THE JAGS & THE NFL' near the stadium, and a large portion of seats in the 400 level went unused." The Jaguars’ lowest home attendance last season "was 59,621" on Christmas Eve against the Titans, when the team had a 2-12 record (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 10/16).